Mary Curzon, Lady Howe
The Countess Howe | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Lady Howe, 1909 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Curzon October 30, 1887 |
| Died | September 1, 1962 (aged 74) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe Lady Georgiana Curzon |
| Parent(s) | Montagu Curzon Esmé FitzRoy |
| Relatives | Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (grandfather) |
| Nickname | Queen of Beauty |
Mary Curzon, Lady Howe (30 October 1887 – 1 September 1962) was an English aristocrat dubbed by the newspapers the Queen of Beauty.
Early life
[edit]Mary Curzon was born on 30 October 1887, the only daughter of Esmé FitzRoy and Col. Montagu Curzon, the eldest son, by his second wife, of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe.[1] Her brother, William Montagu Curzon-Herrick, was married to Lady Maud Hastings (daughter of Warner Hastings, 15th Earl of Huntingdon).[2]
Her maternal grandfather was Francis Horatio FitzRoy (son of Admiral Lord William FitzRoy and grandson of Prime Minister Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton).[2]
Personal life
[edit]On 28 October 1907 she married her first cousin,[3] who was then known as Francis, Viscount Curzon (1884–1964). Francis was the son, and later heir, of Richard Curzon, 4th Earl Howe and his first wife Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Spencer-Churchill (fifth daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Frances Vane).[4][5] Before their divorce in 1937, they were the parents of:[6]
- Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, who inherited the title.[2]
- Lady Georgiana Curzon (1910–1976), who married Home Kidston, a Royal Navy officer and racing driver. After their 1943 divorce, she married Lord Lewis Stanton Starkey in 1957.
Lady Howe died on 1 September 1962. Upon her ex-husband's death in 1964, her son, Edward inherited the title and became the 6th Earl Howe.
Reputation
[edit]In 1912, she was dubbed the "Queen of Beauty," when she appeared in that role in Patsy Cornwallis-West's Eglinton Tournament at Shakespeare's England.[7] The newspapers talked about her as one of the loveliest women in England ever. "England's most beautiful peeress," and "A perfect specimen of English beauty".[7]
In The Book Of Beauty by Cecil Beaton, Lady Howe is described as "the elegance of the aristocrat combined with the excessive prettiness that accompanies carnation-pink cheeks and yellow hair. She is gracefully statuesque, her height is superb, her neck swan-like, and her poreless complexion is like icing-sugar on a birthday cake. [...] there is no living beauty who can create more of an effect than she when entering a ballroom or sitting in a box at the opera."[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Dod, Charles Roger (1844). The Peerage Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland... Whittaker. p. 453. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ a b c Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
- ^ Brock, Michael; Brock, Eleanor (2014). Margot Asquith's Great War Diary 1914-1916: The View from Downing Street. Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-101708-7. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ "Autumn Marriages". The Bystander: An Illustrated Weekly, Devoted to Travel, Literature, Art, the Drama, Progress, Locomotion: 160. 1907. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ "The Wedding of Cousins: Viscount Curzon, Who is to Marry Miss Mary Curzon". The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality. Ingram brothers: 14. 1907. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ "Howe, Earl (UK, 1821)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- ^ a b c Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 17 January 2018.